The Strain #11 cover image

Part 11: “The Master”

The end of The Strain is not the end of the story.  This 11-issue comic book series is an adaptation Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s 2009 vampire novel, The Strain.  The comic book series is scripted by David Lapham, drawn by Mike Huddleston, colored by Dan Jackson, and lettered by Clem Robins.

The Strain’s central character is Dr. Ephraim “Eph” Goodweather, head the CDC’s Canary Project.  Eph and his second-in-command, Nora Martinez, begin tracking a mystery illness at J.F.K. International Airport in New York City, after a Boeing 777 lands with everyone aboard dead, except for three individuals.

That is the launching point for a virus that races across Manhattan and out into the larger city.  Professor Abraham Setrakian, an aging Holocaust survivor, forces Eph and Nora to accept that a host parasite is turning people into vampires.  The Prof. knows the root cause, but can he stop it?

After handling some family business, Eph, the Prof., and new partner, Vasiliy Fet, the rat exterminator, return to The Bathtub, a World Trade Center site.  That is where The Strain #11 begins.  Now, it’s time for the showdown with The Master.  Meanwhile, that Latino guy on the periphery of this story – his name is “Gus” – unwittingly joins new players in this game of death and blood.

THE LOWDOWN:  Because issues #10 and #11 have 2013 cover dates, I can include The Strain in my work-in-progress “Best Comics of 2013” list.  What’s that Vice-President Biden?  The Strain is a big, f*****g deal!

This final issue delivers the confrontation we’ve been expecting for several issue, but with more than one surprising twist.  From start to finish, David Lapham pounded out a page-turning thriller with end-of-issue cliffhangers that satisfied and created anticipation for the next issue.  For Mike Huddleston, he composed graphical storytelling that had all the mood and atmosphere that one would expect of horror fiction, but also offered the excitement and suspense of an ecological thriller.

Well, it’s on to The Fall, the series that will adapt the second book in The Strain trilogy.  If it is half as good as The Strain… well, I expect it to be better than half as good – much better.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  If you love horror comic books, you will love The Strain.